Okami College
by TheDogzLife
Summary: An ordinary girl goes to school one day to find that all of the staff have been replaced by Okami characters. At first it seems like a dream come true, but they soon find out that with the good also comes the evil...
1. Chapter 1

**Just so you know, the school we're in is based on my actual school, Sarah is me and Phebe and Kylie are my friends xD Trying to make it as somewhat realistic as possible.**

**(Also, Waka is my favourite character... and Phebe for some reason has a obsession with biting Kushi. Don't ask me why cuz I don't know)**

**OK well I'll shut up now and let yous read the story...**

* * *

><p>"See you at 3:25."<p>

"Bye!" I called, trying to make my quiet voice heard over the noise of the taxi engine. I didn't let on how irritated I was that he'd arrived late to pick me up for school this morning. I wasn't good at complaining, especially to people who… well, had jobs.

But why did it always have to be Thursday morning? I had double Art first thing, and Mrs Rogers was one of those teachers who didn't easily accept any excuse for being late, even if technically it wasn't actually _your _fault. The amount of times I'd arrived after the bell because of a late taxi driver she probably thought I was crazy not to have found someone else to take me there. I'd walk if I didn't end up feeling ill just from walking to the corner shop and back. And school was at least six times further away than the corner shop.

I headed for Reception. Whether I actually needed to go through here when I arrived after the official start of school, I didn't know. I'd just assumed I was supposed to, although all that really happened was the receptionist would unlock the door so I could go through. Maybe it was because then it felt like they were actually allowing me into the school even though I was late. I don't know. I always seemed to have trouble understanding why I did things.

There always seemed to be random new people in Reception nowadays – whatever happened to the old one, Sue, I didn't know. She knew who I was and why I sometimes came to school partway through the day, but now there were new people asking me if I normally "went through this way". And that was why I started to wonder whether reception was actually relevant to students. In the back of my mind I wondered which of the new people it would be today.

I pushed the door open – thinking to myself once again that I needed stronger arms – and walked over to the window separating the room I was in now and the place where the receptionists worked. Today it was a new receptionist… again. They had their head down as they were writing something so I couldn't see their face, but I couldn't help feeling I'd seen that black hair before somewhere. Especially the two oddly-shaped tufts that stuck up, somehow looking natural rather than badly brushed.

As she noticed I was there she looked up from her work. "Can I help you?"

For a moment I was unable to speak. The random new receptionist from today looked _exactly _like Princess Fuse from Okami. Same clothes and everything. What the heck!

"Did you want something?"

"Erm…" I blinked and shook my head slightly. Funny. I was hallucinating characters from Okami now. I seriously needed to spend less time on that game. "Could… you let me through please…? My, uh… taxi… was late this morning…"

"Oh, that's okay, go on through." She reached forwards and pushed the button that unlocked the door.

"Thanks," I said quietly, pushing the door open before it re-locked itself. I walked along the short room before pushing open the second door that opened out into the corridor, then hurried off to my lesson. Perhaps the stress of being late was making me see things. Or perhaps it was just coincidence. But then again, who wears a kimono in a secondary school?

I guess I should have been paying more attention to where I was going, because all of a sudden I crashed right into someone, dropping my sketchbook in the process. Dammit, now I was making a fool of myself as well. At least everyone was in their lessons already.

"Sorry, I…" I started to apologise, but when I saw who it was I'd walked into the words just froze in my mouth. This day was getting stranger.

It was a rather senior-looking man wearing red, gold and purple robes, and had dark blonde hair that reached halfway down his back. He also had what I considered to be an oddly-shaped hat. If there'd been a teacher here that looked like that I'd definitely have remembered them. I knew who this was, but I was probably still hallucinating. I had to be.

"Don't worry, there's no harm done," the man said, handing me my sketchbook back which had fallen against the wall. "Late for lessons?"

"Yeah the… taxi was late… um… who are you…?" I stammered. Gosh darn it, me, have some guts. I knew who I thought this was, but just incase I was still seeing things I had to make sure.

"The new deputy head teacher. You may call me Mr Sugawara."

So it was him. Oh my god. This had to be a dream. Yet everything seemed so real. And everything apart from the random video game characters running around the school seemed so normal.

"What… what happened to Mrs. Evans?"

"I'm not sure. Yesterday all of the staff here just vanished. Anyway, you'd better be getting to your lesson."

"Ah… yes. Thank you, Mr Sugawara." I nodded and hurried off along the corridor, heading for the art block.

So, all of the staff here had randomly vanished and been replaced by Okami – and Okamiden – characters? This was weird. Too weird. On the bright side at least they actually had open eyes and proper mouths, and their heads weren't being squashed when they spoke. That would have just been too much.

And at least that meant I wouldn't have to explain to Mrs Rogers why I was late. But who _would_ be my art teacher, though?

Eventually I pushed open the door to the art block – even heavier than the door at reception – and headed for A6. The door was open and I heard the voice of my teacher before I even got in the room.

"Hmm, needs more colours. I don't see why you lot think drawing with a paintbrush is so strange."

I nearly laughed at the high-pitched voice. How could I not have guessed that my art teacher would be Issun?

As I walked into the room I looked around, wondering whether I was looking for someone very short or just a glowing green spec hopping about. When I finally noticed him, it was the latter. Well, that was his natural size, I suppose. The little guy bounced over and hopped onto the trolley of art supplies so that he was a bit higher up. "Late, huh, kid?"

"Sorry, the taxi was late this morning," I said for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

"Taxis!" he tutted. "I don't get why you lot hate to travel around in all these 'cars' all the time. A wolf is much more reliable. Anyway, kiddo, I haven't taken the register yet, so go find your seat."

"Okay, Issun," I smiled. I didn't know why but Issun seemed to have brightened my mood. Probably because of his funny high-pitched voice, and the way he jumped around non-stop whilst he talked.

"Hey, that's Issun-sama to you!" he scolded, half joking.

"Issun-sama," I repeated. So they were getting us to refer to them in Japanese ways as well… this day was actually starting to get pretty awesome. Weird and creepy, but awesome.

* * *

><p>At about half ten, the bell went for break as normal. Surprisingly, it had been a rather normal art lesson – except with a teacher that was only an inch tall. We were getting on with our coursework, though I'd made sure never to open my sketchbook to the page where I had a drawing of Amaterasu… whether these new teachers knew they were from a video game or not I wasn't sure, so I didn't want Issun thinking that I was some kind of stalking creep. I was going to have to keep the little sketchbook in my bag hidden as well, since that was full of random drawings of the Okami characters.<p>

I headed for Student Services, where me and my friends went every break. Allison – one of the people who worked there – usually let us spend break and lunch in one of the meetings rooms there. Then I started to get worried. What if Allison wasn't here either? After all, Sugawara had said all the staff had disappeared.

On the bright side, all the people in my class had been the same as before. So hopefully Phebe and Kylie should still be here.

I warily pushed open the door to Student Services, slightly worried about what might happen when I went in. To my surprise the place was packed with lots of people asking what on earth was going on. At least I wasn't the only one wondering. I'd decided by now that this definitely wasn't a dream, at least.

"Sarah!"

I glanced around as I heard Phebe's voice above the others. She and Kylie were sat on the chairs in the corner of the room, waving to me. Obviously they thought better than to try and walk through this large mob of people. I couldn't even see who was actually working here. I weaved my way around all the kids standing around in the somewhat small room until I finally reached my friends.

"Well, this is a very _interesting _day," I commented matter-of-factly, leaning against the wall since there were only two chairs here.

Kylie got up so that I could sit in her chair. That was the way it usually was, and I don't think she really minded… too much… and at least when we could actually go into the rooms there were enough chairs for all of us.

"Thanks," I said, dropping my bag down beside the chair and sitting down.

"We had a really weird substitute teacher this morning," Kylie told us.

"I know, Kylie, you've said that three times already," Phebe sighed. "Ask Allison if the room's free."

"I don't think Allison's here," I pointed out. "I haven't seen a single ordinary member of staff all day. They've all been replaced by… Okami characters…"

"_What_?" Kylie cried. "Don't be stupid, these are real people."

"Crazy as it sounds," I shrugged. "You tell me why my art teacher this morning was the size of a grape and called Issun."

"You're joking, right?"

"Fine, I'll go ask if the room's free," Phebe decided, getting up and wandering over to where the group of people was starting to thin out as people worked out what was happening.

"So where are all the teachers then?" Kylie asked me, temporarily going to sit in Phebe's seat.

"I don't know. Even these new teachers don't know. I asked Sugawara earlier and he didn't know, and he's supposed to be the deputy head," I shrugged. "Come to think of it, I wonder who the head teacher is…"

"So how long are they gone for?"

I shrugged again. "Dunno. Days, months, years, infinity?"

"Oh my god, guys!" Phebe was suddenly standing right next to us again. "You'll never guess!"

"Is the room free?" Kylie asked.

"Kushi is here! Instead of Allison! _Kushi_!"

"Kushi?" I echoed. "OK, this I gotta see." Mainly just to see what comb-shaped hair would actually look like.

Kylie and I followed Phebe back round to the desk, and sure enough, the young maiden who was usually a sake brewer was sat behind it. Now that the large mob of students had cleared out – probably just as confused as before – it was rather quiet here.

"Oh, hello, girls," Kushi smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"Is the room free?" Kylie asked.

"The room? What room?"

"Erm, Allison usually lets us spend break in the room round there," I told her, pointing towards the door.

"Well, I don't see any problem with that," Kushi said kindly. "Just so long as you can hear the bell from in there."

"Yeah, it's right beside the door," Phebe added evenly. "We'll hear it. We always do."

"Just… quick question," I added, as Phebe and Kylie went to go and put their bags in the room. Now I actually had time to ask someone this. "Who's our new head teacher?"

"Himiko," Kushi replied.

"Oh," I said, slightly disappointed.

"Why? Were you expecting someone else?"

"No… no…" Yes. But, Himiko probably made more sense anyways. Being that she was a queen and all. "Anyway, thanks… for letting us use the room."

"No problem," Kushi smiled kindly as I went to join my friends.

* * *

><p>Break went fast, as it always did. We'd spent the most of it talking about the strange day, and trying to work out what might have happened to all the staff. So far we'd decided they were either on strike, been given the day off, abducted by aliens or all killed by teacher-seeking missiles.<p>

Next was tutorial, what I considered to be one of the more boring parts of the day since there was never really anything to do there unless you had someone to talk to. Which I didn't. Since Phebe and Kylie were in year 9 and I was in year 11, they weren't in any of my classes, so I spent most of the school day by myself. I didn't mind, though. At least I got my work done. In tutorial, though, half the time there wasn't any work to _do._

I opened the, thankfully light for once, door to A4, which had been our tutor room since Sixth Form had taken our old one. Now we were in a music room, with no tables and a drum kit that the boys were always obsessing over like moths and lights. From the fact that they were sat messing with the piano, I knew that our tutor hadn't arrived yet. I went and got a chair from the pile and placed it against the wall near the practise rooms, where I always sat during tutorial. I might as well have been sat in the corner except for the fact that if I had I'd block the door.

I busied myself by weaving my sketchbook behind the straps of my bag to get it to stay there, then sat back in the chair, nothing else to do. Fifteen minutes of sitting and thinking. It was alright, I suppose. The other kids from my tutor group filed in and went to sit in their little circles of friends. I caught snippets of their conversations, unsurprisingly most of them talking about all the 'crazy' new teachers. And Facebook. That wasn't surprising either.

Only a few minutes after everyone else had arrived, the door opened once more and our new tutor walked in.

"Bonjour, mes amis, since Mr Tyner and all the rest of the teachers seem to have vanished, it appears you shall have moi as your tutor for now."

I think I actually stopped breathing for a moment.

One of the boys let out a snicker at the accent, but the tutor appeared not to notice – or ignored them. I couldn't believe it. Oh my goodness. I really could not believe it. Infact I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Okay, now I could believe it.

"My name is Waka, but you can call me Waka-sama."


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally chapter 2... that took a while xD**

**So here we have more of basically fangasms and Waka-ness.**

**Because we all love Waka.**

**Or at least I do.**

**On second thoughts, I wonder what a Moon Tribe laptop looks like...?**

**Ah well, enjoy~**

* * *

><p>At that moment I actually pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Yup, I was definitely awake. I also made a mental note that next time I shouldn't pinch myself so hard. Ouch.<p>

"I'm told you're all writing your CVs, so I'm assuming that would mean you know what you're supposed to be doing," Waka deducted, putting the red box that housed our "personal statement" books - or whatever they were supposed to be called – on the piano. I still remembered the day we'd first been given them. Inside they were like those books you got given in year 1, with a large space at the top of the page and about six lines at the bottom so you could barely write everything. We'd been using them to write our Personal Statements and our CV drafts were kept inside the books as well. For a moment I wondered whether the Okami characters even knew what Personal Statements or CVs were. And then I snapped back to reality as I remembered.

Waka was my _tutor_.

Oh. My. God.

Wait. Wait. Don't get hyper or anything. I had to remind myself that I was practically one of the only people who knew who all our new tutors were, as far as the other students were concerned they were just substitutes in funny outfits. And the LAST thing I needed was for everyone to start thinking I had a crush on a teacher or something.

Which I didn't. I don't think. He was just, like, my favourite character out of anything ever and was somehow standing right in front of me talking about CVs. It seemed ironic in some kind of crazy mental way.

But no one would believe me if I told them our new teachers were in fact from a video game, so I was just going to have to act like I didn't know them for now, I guess.

"Uhh no offense Mr. Wacky or whatever your name was, but what's with the crazy outfit? And the shoes. And the accent. And the flute. And not to mention the hair."

Dammit, Sam. Couldn't be anyone else. Well, it could have, but only he would go right out and ask that to a teacher. Especially one that was so epic. I was telling my conscience to shut up so that I wouldn't do something stupid like try to defend him. That would be embarrassing…

But then again, this was Waka we were talking about here. "Excusez-moi? I see they've definitely taught you all brilliant manners here."

"I'm just saying that we should probably have a teacher who isn't crazy."

I could hear some of the students "Ooooh"-ing at Sam's jibe. I didn't join in, but this was definitely going to be interesting.

"Are you telling me that you are even unable to do something as simple as write a paragraph or two about yourself without the aid of your usual teacher?"

"No, of course I can, that's not what I'm saying!"

"Trés bien, because if you had made it as far of the last year of school without even knowing about yourself, that would have been a big disappointment."

I swear that was the first time I'd ever seen Sam speechless.

"You just got owned, mate," I heard Callum laugh.

And as I saw Sam sink back into his seat in shame, I had to stifle a laugh. This day was getting even better.

* * *

><p>I was in an uncharacteristically good mood when I got to my ICT classroom after tutorial. I don't think anyone really noticed. They wouldn't understand about the whole favourite-video-game-characters-coming-to-life thing anyways, so perhaps it was better that way. I stood outside IT3 wondering who our teacher for this would be. I mean, Waka was the only character I could think of who would even know anything about technology.<p>

As it turns out, our ICT teacher was Kaguya. That made sense. Sort of.

Although it was annoying that Mr Smith wasn't here, since I needed him to tell me how to do the work I was trying to catch up on that I'd missed last year…

My lesson was spent reading through the scenario again and again, trying to work out what I should do. Then again, with so many people in the class who weren't exactly experts at using the computer programs, that was how most of my lessons were spent anyways.

And then there was Beliefs & Values. Not a particularly productive lesson either, but there was an exam on it at the end of the school year so we at least learnt something in that lesson. Somewhat unsurprisingly our B&V teacher was Tuskle – I heard a few of the boys muttering about the mask she had over her eyes – but what WAS surprising was that she actually seemed to know about what we were learning. Text books were more useful than they looked.

I was so lost in thought about the last few lessons that I nearly walked right into the door at Student Services. Quickly righting myself, I pushed it open instead and walked in.

"They're in the room already," Kushi told me almost the second I arrived. The place was pretty quiet, other than the few students sat around because they were ill or highly confused by all the staff changes and thinking they were in comas or whatever.

Avoiding eye contact with any of them, I went over to the door to the room.

"I told you, Kylie, all the staff have changed today and been replaced by Okami characters!"

"But I need to go to the canteen and Allison and Celia aren't here!"

"Trouble?" I tutted as I entered the room.

"Maybe," Phebe shrugged, casting a quick glance at Kylie.

"I have canteen money and Allison and Celia aren't here so they can't write me a note to bring the food here," Kylie explained, ignoring Phebe.

"Just ask Kushi," I said, sitting down at the meeting table where we ate our lunch most days. "Not exactly much different. Oh, and don't forget to get a good look at the staff in the canteen so you can describe them to me when you get back and I can work out who they are." As exciting as this whole Okami thing was, even for that I didn't want to go to the canteen, which was stuffy and full of kids and disgusting food. To me, at least.

"But are you sure that-"

"Yes. Just go, Kylie, I'm sure you'll live."

"Okay," Kylie shrugged, trotting outside.

"Soooooo," I countered, turning to Phebe. "Any cool teachers yet?"

"Well I had a guy who never told us his name in tech, and a lady called Otohime in French… which was weird cuz I thought it was going to be Waka."

"Otohime's teaching _French_?" I laughed. "Well, I guess she isn't Japanese like moist of the other characters, languages would make sense… but I know why it wasn't Waka. I had him for tutorial!"

"Really? That's so awesome!" Phebe cheered. "Who's your normal tutor? What's Waka teaching?"

"My usual teacher is Mr. Tyner, so I guess that means Waka is teaching…" I froze as I realised.

"Music?"

"I have music all afternoon. I mean, double lesson. Usually with Mr Tyner. Oh my lord, I have Waka twice in one day!"

"Nice," Phebe nodded as I sat practically having a fangasm.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I've calmed down now. What have you got this afternoon?"

"Maths and Art."

"Who's your Art teacher?"

"Miss Rogers."

I laughed. "Well, I don't know about Maths, but let's just say you've gotta have good eyesight if you're going to be able to see your art teacher this afternoon."

* * *

><p>I stood leaning against the filing cabinet outside A4 as I waited for our music teacher to get there. One similarity I was noticing already between Mr Tyner and Waka was that they both seemed to arrive to the lesson they were teaching a few minutes late. Or perhaps that was just a head-of-the-music-department thing. As an afterthought, I wondered who our other music teacher would be. We had a different one on Tuesdays and Wednesdays – so many music lessons because I'd taken it as an option. And pretty much regretted it. It mostly involved group work, and that was hard for someone who wasn't particularly popular among the rest of their year.<p>

"We're going to have some other strange teacher instead of Mr T. again aren't we," Jordan muttered as he wandered around hitting everything with a couple of drumsticks. Boys.

"They're not strange," I shrugged. "Just… from a different culture than us." Perhaps the people in my music class would understand. After all, they were the people who were interested in music, the people who probably wouldn't be as bothered by someone who liked Japanese video games.

"Yes, but why would all the teachers be replaced by ones from a different culture?" Sophie pointed out.

"I don't know," I shrugged again, my bag making an annoying noise against the metal cabinet. "They're not even supposed to be real people. They're all characters from a video game called Okami."

Everyone went silent.

"O…kay…" Matt raised an eyebrow, looking at me as if I were insane. For all I knew I probably was.

"Désolé to keep you all waiting," Waka said, appearing around the corner suddenly and holding a bunch of keys in one hand, flute in the other as per usual. "We are in MR2 today so, nous partons!"

"Uhhh…?" Jordan blinked.

"In other words, just go over to MR2."

* * *

><p>Once we reached the computer-filled room, I took on my usual task of trying to decide where to sit. Luckily there weren't that many people in our class so there wasn't the problem of running out of computers. I wandered around waiting for everyone else to head over in the general direction of where they were sitting, and eventually went to sit on the back row which was empty. I often considered myself a loner, and even though there were various spare seats about the room, I'd rather sit on my own than with some random person who would just ignore me for the whole lesson.<p>

I logged onto the computer and loaded up PowerPoint. We were working on our Music coursework, and at the moment it was creating a presentation about working in the music industry. Mine was on composers and lyricists, but mainly because I didn't really know any other jobs in music. Everyone else did. Was I missing something here or was Music just a bad decision for someone like me?

"Wonder if Moon Tribe technology is anything like ours," I muttered quietly to myself as PowerPoint froze for a few seconds.

"Excusez-moi, did you say something, mon amie?"

"Gah! Holy sh—" I practically jumped out of my skin when I realised Waka was standing next to me. "I, uh… ah… yes… no…" In my mind, I slapped myself. "I was just, erm, talking to myself… habit… sorry…"

Deliberately avoiding eye contact with anything but the computer screen, I could feel my face starting to burn with embarrassment. I knew that at least some of the others were looking at me like I was a complete idiot. I probably was. Why did I have to talk to myself so much…

"Hm," was Waka's reply, before he walked away back to the front of the room.

Aw crap. I had to stop being such a fan girl and just get back to my darn coursework. Or else people were going to think I had some kind of mental issue.

Was being obsessed with a video game considered a mental issue?

Nah. Just shut up, conscience, and let me get back to work.

* * *

><p>15:23. I knew for a fact that when that number appeared on the school computers' clock it would be less than a minute before the bell went. I saved my work, closed PowerPoint, and clicked on log off just as the beeping echoed around the room.<p>

"Au revoir," Waka waved one hand in farewell, signalling that we could leave, not taking his eyes off the screen of the laptop he was using. Or at least, I assumed it was a laptop. It had those awesome Moon Tribe patterns on it, so it could have been anything. Then again, it had a keyboard, so it was probably just a laptop…

I slung my bag over my back and grabbed my sketchbook, tucking it under one arm. Everyone was filing out of the classroom, eager to be free from school. Heck I wanted to go home and see if anyone I knew was online. And maybe play Okami. And wonder whether I still needed to do my science homework for tomorrow if we had different teachers.

Oh what the fridges I'd do it anyway. Just a sheet on covalent bonding, wasn't too hard.

"One moment. According to the register, your name is Sarah, oui?"

I stopped in my tracks as Waka glanced away from the laptop-thingy-ma-boggle screen at last. "Yes…? Um, I kinda have to get a taxi…"

"This won't take long. If you don't mind my asking, how is it that you know of the Moon Tribe?"

"I…" my mind went blank, and I stared at the floor. How was I supposed to answer? Dammit I'd screwed up now. Stupid habit of talking to myself… did Waka know that he and all the other teachers were from a video game? Or would he just think I was as crazy like everyone else did?

Although from the fact that there were video game characters walking around my school, I was starting to wonder if I _was_ crazy.

"Erm… I… it's kinda… hard to explain… you probably wouldn't understand…"

"Try me."

I glanced up. Maybe he would understand? After all, this was Waka. The guy who seemed to know everything. Other than where to find a crystal in a windmill mountain. But I let that thought slide for now.

"All the new teachers here are from a video game I've played called Okami…?" I said helplessly. I realised the main thing I was worried about here was the taxi driver mocking me for being late. I was such a wimp.

Silence.

"Erm… Waka-san?"

"Hm?" Waka looked like he'd been momentarily lost in another world. "Oh, right, oui, you may leave now."

"Thanks," I said quietly as I hurried out the door, walking as fast as possible whilst carrying a heavy bag and a sketchbook to where the taxis waited.

It had seemed so awesome when all the Okami characters had suddenly appeared as teachers here. Especially my favourite character.

But he'd just utterly creeped me out.

_Ah well_, I thought as I emerged into the car park, seeing the taxi partway down the slope. _It's still awesome just knowing they're here, however they talk!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here we are at Chapter 3... not a whole lot happens in this, but hopefully in the next chapter the story should start to progress xD**

**Also yes, I do have a LOT of Maths, English and Music lessons... year 11 bro.**

**And the guy burying a body is a true story xD But that's irrelivant...**

**Anyways, enjoy~!**

* * *

><p>The second I got home I ran upstairs to change out of my school uniform, and then raced back down again to go on the computer. I probably spend half my life on that thing. It was kind of sad really. Still, it was my main way of socialisation…<p>

As I waited for everything on the screen to load, I made the process even longer by opening the internet and MSN.

"Come on, come on…" I muttered as I waited for them to appear on the screen. "Yes!"

Owley's icon on my favourites was highlighted in green. She was online. That was good, because I seriously needed to tell someone about my crazy day…

_Sarah: Heyy Owley_

I typed in a greeting, clicking onto the internet to check my YouTube and deviantART messages as I waited for her to reply, which she did a few minutes later.

_Owley: Heyya c:_

_Sarah: You will never guess what happened at school today._

_Like seriously you'll never guess._

_Owley: XD What?_

_Sarah: All of the teachers somehow got replaced by Okami characters O_o_

_Owley: XD_

_Sarah: No seriously. I went into Art this morning and Issun was there instead of Miss Rogers._

_Owley: Haha Doggeh you're so good at these stories c:_

_Sarah: Hey this really happened! D:_

_Owley: Are you sure it wasn't just someone that looked a bit like him?_

_Sarah: Well if there's really people here who are only an inch tall then sure._

_Owley: Doggeh are you okay…?_

_Sarah: Course I am. It's our teachers who I'm wondering if are okay._

_Look if you don't believe me then tomorrow I could try and get a picture or something and send it to ya_

_Though I'm not entirely sure that's legal since they're teachers…_

_Owley: So you're actually being serious? There's people who look like Okami characters at your school? That's awesome 8D_

_Sarah: They don't just LOOK like them they're ACTUALLY them_

_And you'll never believe who my tutor is._

_Or my ICT teacher._

_Or my B&V teacher for that matter…_

_Owley: Who? c:_

_Sarah: My tutor and music teacher is_

_Waka_

_I practically had a spazz attack when I found out._

_Owley: Ohhh~ that sounds awesome ^^ I wish I went to your school XD_

_Sarah: I wish you did too xD Hey maybe Waka can teleport you over here or something?_

_Owley: XD_

I continued telling her about all the other crazy stuff that happened today, even though I wasn't sure she believed me entirely. But it felt good to be telling someone. At least I didn't feel like I was going mental anymore. Though I decided against posting a journal about it on dA, because then people really would think I was going insane…

* * *

><p>"Surely you can't be tired <em>already<em>?"

"S…sorry," I panted as I stopped running to catch my breath. This was why I didn't usually do PE, instead doing revision in Student Services. Yet because of all the new teachers I'd persuaded my mum that I wanted to do PE today, and it looked like I'd had somewhat of a result.

Since we were in year 11, we had a choice of three different groups to be in for PE, and I'd chosen rounders. Well, since the other choices were swimming – which I hated – or golf – which I'd already done at the beginning of the year – that had been the obvious choice. Plus I had always enjoyed rounders. Even though running around the field to warm up was starting to make me feel sick because I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

But I was trying to put up with it, because the PE teacher was Oki. I was still considering whether to mention that he had the most awesome hair ever. Not to mention that I'd just spent the morning in a Chemistry lesson with Tama. Stuff exploding all over the place.

"This… this is… the first time I've done PE… in months…" I coughed from breathing too much and stood upright once more. "Okay I'm fine now."

"Why?"

"Erm… long story," I muttered, slightly put off by the fact that I couldn't see what his expression was behind the mask. And that got me wondering again. "By the way, why do the Oina wear masks?"

At least I could tell that he blinked in surprise. Probably that I knew he was an Oina when I doubted he'd have transformed into a wolf in front of any of the students here incase he scared the crap out of them. "As you say, long story. Now keep running, you've still got another lap left and everyone else has almost finished."

* * *

><p>At lunchtime I flopped into the chair dramatically, worn out after PE. Ah well. It had been awesome anyway. And I had English and Maths this afternoon to look forward to. Not so much the lessons, just seeing who the teachers would be.<p>

"PE?" Phebe said absently, sat looking through messages on her phone.

"Yup," I replied simply. "You got that next right?"

"Yup."

"Oki's one of the PE teachers. Not sure who the others are. I think I saw Susano though."

Moment of silence. Then we burst out laughing.

"Hi guys!" Kylie said as she pushed the door to the room open and came inside, plonking her stuff down on the seat and taking out her lunch.

"Mini roll!" Phebe cheered as she noticed the chocolate bar.

"Oh, here we go," I laughed. "Oh! I just remembered. You know how I had Waka for music yesterday?"

"Yea, lucky. What about it?"

"I kinda like… was speaking to myself at one point. And he heard me talking about the Moon Tribe."

"What's the Moon Tribe?" Kylie questioned.

"I'll tell ya some other time. But anyways after the bell went he told me to stay behind and he asked me how I knew about them."

"What did you say?" Phebe questioned. "I bet he thought you were a creep."

"I dunno. I told him about Okami. But he's Waka, it's practically impossible to read his emotions. I think he knew what I was talking about though or he would have said I was nuts. Or whatever that is in French."

* * *

><p>The next week passed quickly. As usual my weekend was spent mostly using the computer and playing Okami. Yea, I didn't really have a whole lot to do. Especially since the new teachers weren't setting us any homework. That was another plus side to this whole collision-of-worlds thing.<p>

As for the teachers, some of them seemed more fitting for subjects than others. On Friday afternoon Samickle had been teaching us English, and we'd had Sugawara for maths. Then more Maths first thing Monday morning (I'd always found it ironic that the school with both started and ended with that subject), followed by Biology. I almost feared who the teacher for that might be.

And then my fears worsened when I found out that the teacher was Rao.

Though luckily she had her fringe pulled back and a string of blue beads around her neck, so she was the real one. Still, I made sure to keep my eyes away from her chest for the whole 140 minutes of the lesson. Silently I wondered if she was just the Biology teacher because Issun was teaching on the opposite side of the school.

More English in the afternoon, then when I had Music on Tuesday morning, I'd have to say it was a bit of a surprise.

"Abe?" I coughed to disguise a laugh as I walked into the classroom. "You're a Music teacher?"

"Um… yea?" he blinked. "Why? Is… there something wrong with that?"

"Heh, no… is Kamo a music teacher too?"

"Yes."

"And captain Waka is the new head of the music department, right?"

"Yep."

"So you guys are not so much the Tao Troopers… but the Tune Troopers?"

"I guess so," Abe smiled awkwardly at my bad pun. Though to be honest I was wondering whether he found it strange that I knew what his name was even though he hadn't told the class yet. Or that I knew what the Tao Troopers were.

Then it had been more English and Maths – yes, I did have a lot of those subjects – then Art and ICT with Issun and Kaguya in the afternoon.

And Wednesday. More Maths, English and Music in the morning, and then Physics in the afternoon. Of course, our teacher was none other than Gen. I'm not entirely sure everyone understood what he was trying to teach us, but it certainly was an interesting lesson. And I'd always thought our original Physics teacher was short…

Now we were back at Thursday again. With Issun as my Art teacher, spending two lessons in that class was a lot more durable. And he didn't seem as bothered by my utter uselessness. Or perhaps that was just because I was a girl. But I tried my best to push those thoughts out of my head incase I started getting disturbing mental images.

I'd also seen Amaterasu whilst walking to lunch, patrolling around near the canteen. It looked like she was the replacement for behaviour support. One of the year seven boys in the picnic area threw a crisp packet on the ground and received a warning growl for littering.

In Music that afternoon I made sure to keep any Okami-related thoughts in my head rather than speaking anything out loud. Waka hadn't mentioned anything more about how much I knew and in tutorial all week he'd been treating me the same way as the other students. Which I was half glad about. Yet I'd always imagined that if I ever met a real Waka it'd probably go somewhere along the lines of a glomp-attack-hug, not me feeling like I wanted to be in a different room. I was starting to go paranoid here.

I hurried out of the classroom when the bell rang so that he didn't ask me to stay behind again. Though I hadn't been talking to myself out of boredom today so that would have been unlikely anyways. I headed for the gate.

And then I remembered.

"Aw, crap," I muttered as I realised I'd left my sketchbook in Student Services at lunch. Pfft. I was going to have to go get it now.

I practically ran back across the school, nearly crashing right into Phebe and Kylie.

"Oh, hi," Phebe started as she took a step back. "You're in a hurry."

"Left my sketchbook behind," I shrugged.

"Well that was stupid," Kylie laughed.

"You think? Anyways I gotta go to Studies to get it. Wanna come?"

"Why? We gotta walk home ya know!" Phebe protested.

"Kushi's gonna be there still."

"Okay, let's go."

* * *

><p>"Oh, hi girls! What are you doing here?" Kushi greeted us.<p>

"Left my Art sketchbook behind," I explained. "Just come to get it. Won't be a sec."

I went around the corner and into the room while Phebe and Kylie waited outside, presumably talking to Kushi about… whatever it was they talked about. I heard the word "hair" mentioned even though I wasn't really paying much attention. How did she get her hair like that anyways?

Aha, there was my sketchbook, lying on the floor under the table. It must have fallen off at some point and that was why I'd forgotten to take it with me when the bell rang. I reached under the table and picked it up.

Then there was a strange noise that was so sudden I jumped and hit my head on the wood.

"Ow," I muttered, crawling back out from under the table and glancing around to see where the noise had come from.

The water cooler in the corner of the room was shaking. Weird. Had someone run past outside? Nah, that wouldn't have been enough to make it move that much…

Could water coolers get scared?

I cautiously stepped away, creeped out. The water cooler was shaking so much it looked like it might fall over.

Oh heck, this school wasn't haunted was it? I'd heard stories of people seeing someone burying a body on the hill of the church nearby…

Then suddenly a strange swirling black mass appeared in front of the machine.

"What the fudges?" I mumbled, frozen to the spot.

Wait, there was something coming out of the blackness. It looked like some kind of animal. As it started to emerge I saw something that seemed to be a mask…

Oh shit.

I raced out of the room and slammed the door behind me.

"Gah! What?" Kylie glanced around, surprised.

"Guys… I think we have… a-a problem…"

"What?" Phebe blinked. "Is your sketchbook not in there?"

"Wha…? No I got the sketchbook, we gotta get out of here! Like, now!"

"What's going on?" Kushi asked.

"Guys, seriously, this is bad…"

"JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!" Phebe snapped, obviously somewhat concerned by how scared I looked.

"I-It's… NINETAILS!"


	4. Chapter 4

**[EDIT: rofl the linebreak went in the wrong place. FF hates me...]**

**Well looky here I finally updated this story...**

**And theoratically I just left school. I find that ironic in some kind of way.**

**Now we have the epic (not so much) battle against Ninetails!**

**... ehhhh...**

**Also we learn that Yami is a stalker.**

**And it sounds like we're being kidnapped at the end of this... psh...**

**But since none of the characters are rapists (as far as we know) then I'm sure we'll be fine.**

**OK LET'S GO.**

* * *

><p>"Who?" Kylie and Kushi asked at the same time.<p>

"Seriously!" Phebe cried.

"How the heck do we know who Ninetails is and an Okami character doesn't!" I shouted. Wait. That was the least of our worries right now.

A loud roar sounded in the room behind me and hurriedly I ran away from the door.

"What's doing on?" Kylie asked, finally starting to sound worried.

"Oh, not much, we're just getting attacked by a demon!" Phebe snapped.

"Demon?" Kushi asked nervously.

"What the crap are we supposed to do!"

"We gotta calm down!" I exclaimed, even though I was far from calm myself. I actually started laughing from panic. "Okay, we can stay here, panic and die, _or_ we can actually come up with a plan…"

"Well?" Phebe demanded. "You're the one who's actually played Okami here!"

"But I wasn't actually _in_ it was I!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Kylie shouted, hyperventilating.

Come on… what should we do…!

True I'd played Okami more times than I could remember… and granted I had a really bad memory… but there definitely wasn't any way _we_ could defeat Ninetails.

So… we just needed someone who could, right?

"Someone needs to go get Ammy."

"Huh?" Kylie blinked.

"You know, Amaterasu? She's in behaviour support, right? Phebe, you're less likely to screw this up, you go find her."

Something slammed against the door of the room.

"I don't think there's time for that!" Phebe pointed out, eyes wide.

"Then someone will have to distract Ninetails won't they!" I gulped. We couldn't send Kylie out there to be chased by a demon, I didn't trust her not to get eaten. And Kushi… well, that basically answered itself. But if Phebe was going to go and find Ammy, then that just left…

Me.

Oh shit.

"Kylie, you and Kushi find somewhere to hide or something," I ordered. Panic made me more assertive, it seemed. "Just get the crap out of here or you're dead meat. Phebe, you go to Behaviour Support and see if you can find Ammy."

"Got it. What are you gonna do?"

"Looks like I'm the decoy."

"…Seriously? You're crazy."

"I know. But right now does that really matter? Just get a fricking move on already!" I gave her a shove and she raced out of the door.

Kylie and Kushi went to hide in one of the smaller office-type rooms, and I pushed the door open, waiting.

Phebe was right. I was crazy. How the heck do you outrun a fox demon?

Too late to turn back now. The door of the room had now burst into flames.

"Holy shit," I muttered as I threw my bag aside. Thank goodness I wasn't one of those girly people who wore high heels all the time, or I'd be doomed.

The flames suddenly vanished and a giant nine-tailed fox jumped into the room.

Oh god, what had I gotten myself into now?

"Kyuubi!" I shouted, using the Japanese name which I liked better. "Um… yea… ah… gotta run!"

I turned and raced out the door, not looking back to see if he followed me. Oh heck, what if he didn't? Kylie would be in trouble then… Kushi too. But. Friends before fictional characters that magically come to life, right?

Though I could tell Ninetails was following me when I heard the door get smashed open.

I jumped down the whole flight of stairs, nearly falling as I reached the bottom but luckily regaining my balance. Where was I supposed to lead him?

I didn't want to get killed!

I cast a quick glance behind me to see Ninetails racing towards the stairs, some of his tails bashing against the side of the corridors. Luckily that seemed to be slowing him down.

Now I just had to run as if my life depended on it.

Come to think of it… it did.

I sped along the corridor, jumping down another set of stairs as I passed the languages block. Then I emerged out into daylight. Everyone had gone home by now, so at least I wasn't putting anyone else at risk with this crazy plan.

I turned and ran along the back of the languages classrooms, heading for the corridor at the far end so that I could do a lap of the school and head for Behaviour Support where Phebe would be hopefully with Amaterasu.

Darn it, this plan had better work.

I was starting to feel ill already. Running and the weirdness of being chased by a demon. Plus I was exhausted. Maybe I should have sent Kylie to do this task after all…

Oh crap, I could hear pawsteps behind me now. Going out into the open had been a bad idea. Why hadn't I just stayed in the corridors where the tight space slowed the darn fox down?

I forced myself to keep running. Blatantly because if I didn't I'd get slaughtered. Oh joy.

The pawsteps were getting closer…

"Oh god what the heck is going on today!" I shouted, trying to force myself to run faster. I was nearly at the corridor now, just passing the grass. I didn't want to look back just incase I tripped over.

And then I had yet another surprise to add to the many I'd already had so far.

Strange noise. The kind of strange when there's no words to describe something. Other than perhaps 'sheeeooowww'.

"Stay back!"

"What the-" this time I actually did glance back. And, just as predicted, the second I did I tripped over my own feet. Good thing I managed to put my arms out in time to avoid smashing my head against the concrete. _That_ would have been painful.

Wait, why wasn't I being eaten by a demon? The strange noise had somehow distracted me from impending doom.

"Holy shit…"

Waka!

He'd done that magically-appearing thing and magically appeared with his lightsaber flute sword thing, Pillow Talk. He sliced it through the air in front of Ninetails and the kitsune skidded to a halt. He didn't look scared, more as if deciding whether to bother attacking now that he was facing someone who was actually armed rather than a random girl.

At that moment there was a loud barking from somewhere behind me and Amaterasu appeared, running towards Ninetails and lashing out with the fiery mirror on her back.

Then Ninetails decided to turn tail and run. What a wimp.

"Ma chérie," Waka murmured quietly, glancing at Amaterasu. "You should probably make sure he doesn't threaten anyone else."

The goddess gave something that might have been a growl or just an I-can't-really-be-bothered-with-this sigh, and then raced off after the fox.

And then that just left me sat there, dumbfounded, my hands stinging from being scraped against the tarmac.

Had everything there really just happened? Or had I somehow managed to fall asleep in a lesson?

Well my hands hurt, I guess that meant I was definitely awake. I just stared as Amaterasu vanished around the corner.

After what seemed like an age, Waka finally turned to me. "Are you okay, mon amie?"

I just stared. My brain was rather confused by now, so 'how to reply' didn't come as a thought for at least a few seconds.

"I-I… think so…?"

He held out a hand and it took a moment to register that he was trying to get me to stand up. Blinking hard to make sure I definitely wasn't dreaming, I took the offer.

Bloody hell he was stronger than he looked. The second I was stood back on two feet I nearly fell over again.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Dude, I was just chased halfway round the school by a bloody demon!" I still wasn't quite over the shock of whatever had happened. "And… how did you get here again…?"

"Well, I suppose I can see where you're coming from. But I would have thought you'd have hidden somewhere rather than ran off. Demons like moving targets."

"Ha, yeah, funny story. Mainly the fact that I was trying to stop Ninetails from having my friend for lunch while she went to go and find Ammy."

"So you weren't alone when you saw the fox demon then?"

"No, Phebe and Kylie were there too… a-and Kushi…" now that I was finally starting to calm down, I was back to being the old wimpy me again. Great.

"Hm," Waka glanced across the grass, as if he were thinking. Not this again.

I was actually beginning to understand why Issun found him so irritating. I'd probably hate him as well if he wasn't, like, my favourite character out of anything in the entire world.

Wait, I needed to stop thinking about that or I'd end up turning into a mad fan girl again.

"Hello? Er… bonjour? Konnichiwa?" I muttered after what might have been half a minute of silence to make sure he was actually still awake.

"Huh?" Waka glanced back at me once more. "Did you say something?"

"…Nothing important." I shrugged.

"OK. Well, the bell went ages ago, you should probably be getting home now." He turned and started to walk away.

"Wait, I've just been almost killed, and you're not even going to explain what the heck is going on around here?"

Waka halted for a moment. "Trés bien. But not now. Go find your friends and make sure they're okay, and tell them to come to A4 tomorrow break. I'll explain everything then."

* * *

><p>After spending the whole of Chemistry wondering what break time would bring rather than paying attention to Tama's enthusiasm for fireworks – not that anyone really listened to him anyways since he made no sense – I hurried over to A4. Being me, I didn't want to go into the room until either Phebe or Kylie got there as well, so I just stood around outside playing with the keyboard, reminding myself to not play any Okami soundtrack incase anyone heard it.<p>

As per the usual, Phebe and Kylie arrived together. They were in the same year so their lessons would have probably been nearby.

"Why did we have come here again?" Kylie asked, seemingly irritated at not being able to just hang around at break like we usually did.

"Because we're going to find out why all the teachers have changed," Phebe explained, also seemingly irritated but probably more because Kylie was asking questions again.

"Let's go in then," I shrugged, heading over to the door and pushing it open.

At the same time I hoped that if any more demons should randomly appear they wouldn't want to eat me since I was probably about 90% bone. Hence opening doors was so difficult.

Thinking of demons, it'd been really hard to come up with an excuse as to why I'd been twenty minutes late for the taxi yesterday… I mean, who's going to believe I was in a near-death situation with a nine-tailed fox? No one.

We entered the room to find Waka, Sugawara, Himiko and Ammy in there. It took me another moment to notice Issun who was standing on one of the counters amongst a bunch of keyboards. The fact that there were quite a few people made me hesitate, unsure whether I'd just walked in on one of those teacher meetings.

Phebe and Kylie pushed past me to get into the room as well.

"Ah… sorry," I muttered, backing away slightly.

"What for?" Sugawara asked. He sounded slightly confused. "There's still another ten minutes left of break, you aren't late."

"… Nothing…?" Guess I hadn't walked in on a meeting after all.

"You're here to find out what's going on, aren't you?" Himiko asked.

"Well, yeah," Phebe shrugged.

"Pretty much," Kylie nodded.

I decided that I didn't have to say anything since those two had already done the speaking for me.

"We can tell you," Sugawara added. "But you must not tell anyone else, for it may put them in danger as well."

"_Danger_?" Phebe echoed.

"We… we won't tell anyone," I said, glancing at Phebe and especially at Kylie. There wasn't really anyone for me to tell, but those two knew a lot of people in their own year.

"Nope," the two of them echoed, Phebe returning my look with a glare, obviously knowing what I was thinking.

"Well, as you know," Himiko started. "We have all been sent here, to your world, to be teachers at your school. We're not entirely sure what happened to your teachers, but we can presume they're in our world."

I stifled a laugh at that, imagining the teachers in the Okami world. What if they took on the same roles as the people replacing them here? That image would be forever inscribed in my mind.

"The reason we were sent here is because Yami and his followers somehow managed to break through into your world, and we are here to defeat him. We think his plans are to try and take over the school since it is mainly populated by children, and they would be easier to control."

"So Yami is trying to take over our school…?" Phebe muttered, confused.

"Who's Yami?" Kylie asked.

"Evil demon lord thing," I said quietly as a quick explanation.

"Yesterday afternoon, I suppose it was just bad luck that you happened to be around at the time that Yami sent his minions to look around the place," Sugawara concluded. "But now that you three knew of his existence, you're probably all in danger."

Thank you, Sugawara. I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyway.

"Of course, this is all that fruitcake's fault," Issun piped up. "Going round fighting demons when there's still students in the darn school."

"Excusez-moi?" Waka blinked.

"Oh, thanks a _lot_, Issun!" I snapped. "Next time, let's hope I just get left there to die, okay!"

Silence. It felt like everyone was staring at me.

"Erm… sorry." I backed away. "I just… n-never mind." I just wanted to stand up for Waka. Being as he was like, my favourite character from anything and all that. Though with my personality that probably wasn't a good idea.

"And I thought you never spoke," Issun mumbled.

"Anyways, we're just lucky that Yami isn't here yet," Waka added. "Amaterasu's powers are weak in this world, since the people here don't even know of her existence, let alone believe in her."

The wolf held her head in shame. It was actually pretty strange to see.

"But, now that he's sent Ninetails to scout this place and the fox attacked you three, the chances are he'll probably come here today. And when he does, you three will probably be his primary targets. He'll know that you know his plans." Himiko glanced at each of us in turn as she spoke. It was kind of unnerving. "And it wouldn't be hard for him to break into the school system, since he can use far more advanced technology. We can't know for certain he won't be able to find where you live. Even out of school, you may still be in danger."

Oh, great. This was _really_ what I wanted to hear.

"So, we have decided that until we know whether Yami is intending on targeting the three of you, it would be best to let you stay somewhere safe. So you can stay with us until we know you're clear."

"Huh?" I gasped. Did that mean…?

"It's kinda hard to explain," Issun added. "But just imagine an empty field that secretly has a bunch of houses in it or something."

"I still don't get it," I shrugged. "In either case."

"So it's kind of like a sleepover, right?" Kylie asked.

"Kind of," Waka told her. He glanced towards the poncle. "Which is exactly why we're not entrusting anyone to Issun."

"What? Hey!" Issun tutted. "Just what kind of guy do you think I am?"

"I want Kushi!" Phebe chimed in.

"Can I go with Ammy?" Kylie chirped. "Does she even have a house?"

"If you want, and if they don't mind," Sugawara nodded, seemingly amused by their enthusiasm. Ammy just barked.

Phebe pointed to me. "And Sarah probably wants to stay with _Waka_."

"What! I…" I jumped, stepping back about a metre. Good thing that whenever I was embarrassed it wasn't that noticeable, because that was probably the most awkward thing anyone had ever said in front of me. Especially since Waka was just across the room… which was a scenario that a while back would have seemed impossible.

Though to be quite honest, Waka seemed slightly embarrassed himself. Especially when Issun glared at him. Assumingly.

"Trés bien," he shrugged. "All of you, be ready by 5PM today and we'll come pick you up. Hopefully Yami won't attack before then."

At that moment, the bell rang.

"Well, you'd better get going to tutorial," Sugawara pointed out.

As we left the room, I was left wondering if everything there had really happened. We were going to stay with Okami characters? This was so amazing I almost couldn't believe it. So amazing that I nearly forgot I was actually in this room next anyways and didn't have to walk anywhere.

This was seriously starting to feel like a dream come true!


End file.
